Job Discussion Forums

[chuckd74]

ok, this is a serious inquiry for the Japan young and old hands

I am seriously considering adjusting my teaching career to Japan, permenantly

I have been teaching for over 10 years, 3 in China, 3 in korea, 1 KSA, 1 UAE, 1 Yemen, 1 India, 1 Russia

I initially tried the JET program, didnt get the job and have avoided Japan for a very long time

I am growing rather weary Middle East culture/ESL game over here;
I wont belabor the issues - yet the money is nice here

and the Korean Won has hada severe (over 33%) devaluation

so, my questions are:

a) what is the real deal on the grond, not the party line with for : salaries, costs, taxes, visa, pensions, langauge, culture, etc

b) I would only be consideringcoporations or Universities, maybe high schools= suggestions

c) what is the quality of life ?

d) city vs rural ?

e) I am single white male from Los Angeles? how does this affect my chances of dating/culture assimilation in japan

f) what are the realities for those who have done more than 5 years in japan? more than 10 years in Japan?

g) what are thepossiiblites of moving from a teaching job to a real job;is this a good idea?


please feel free to direct email me at [email protected] with any comments as any and all information is useful

thanks very much for your time and efforts here

[G Cthulhu]

Thank you for asking everyone here to do your homework for you.

Try reading the stickies. Any of them. Seriously. Even five minutes of effort on your own part will answer most of your questions. Understand the responses that will begin "ESID" are very true.

You're welcome.

[stillnosheep]

Check out gaijinpot.com

unis: only if you have MA, and only then with difficulty at first

corps: 250 000 Yen with pensions: as good as non-existent

quality of life: better than ME, esp. if you like Japan.

taxes very low (in first year or two, then higher), visas easy to get and renew (as long as you have job or job offer - employer gets you the Certificate of Eligibilty for work visa)

cities are fun and have nightlife but apartments are expensive.
rural u can save but u night be only foreigner in town (rural Japan can be very Japanese)

chances of real job? Can you speak japanese. No? Then none.

salaries OK today yen at moment is absurdly high

check out gaijinpot.com for more info

[Apsara]

I disagree on the chances of a "real job" without Japanese, stillnosheep- it seems to be a common misconception.

Tokyo is full of people who speak very little/no Japanese but work for the Japan headquarters of various foreign companies, mostly in IT and finance. My husband works in IT for a foreign insurance company and many of his coworkers don't speak Japanese. We have friends working in IT and finance for a lot of other companies where the situation is the same. Examples would be: HP, Microsoft, AmEx, Cisco, AXA, Infosys and many others- a Canadian friend of mine speaks zero Japanese but works for a Japanese paint exporter- he is helping them set up an office in Dubai currently.

The majority of the recent influx of Indian IT workers don't speak Japanese and don't seem interested in learning to speak it either!

You would of course need relevant, up-to-date skills and experience in these fields and it is very difficult to find these jobs from overseas.

The friend I mentioned above has a background in international law and spent a year teaching English before he landed that job. Friends in IT and finance worked in those fields before coming to Japan.

Now is obviously not the most wonderful time to be job-hunting in either field- our friends have come through mostly unscathed, even those working for Citibank, but many others are either unemployed or have headed home. The collapse of Lehman Brothers and AIG in particular left a lot of finance people here jobless.

As for most of the other questions- the info already here in other threads and stickies is the info from on the ground, not the official line, so make the most of it. Many of us posting here have been in Japan for quite a few years (10 years in my case) and I stand by the info you will find here.

The Let's Japan site has a "Good, Bad and Ugly" forum which gives a lot of info on the pros and cons of various companies/schools.

[markle]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

People, people, people...research this wonderful individual before wasting your time on him. He is notorious and has worn out his welcome in the ME. Sorry, Chuck! Everyone, close your eyes and imagine what ths "D" stands for...really...

For those of you who don't heed this warning...God Bless,

And Chucky, I meant what I said on your last thread (before it was pulled) about your "General Director" gig after you got batted outta of ADU...a dismal employer at most...it is a VERY, VERY small world.

Understand, this isn't a personal attack as agreed to by the rules of this board, it is something akin to a warning about "scammers" who pop up now and again....this youngster is to be avoided!

NCTBA

[Glenski]

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

Good on ya, Glenski...you and I have had our disagreements...but this youngster! I, personally don't want him to bring his suffering to my wife's homeland.

He needs to change his moniker or his attitude...neither of which he is smart enough to do.

NCTBA